A Practical Arrangement by Nadja Notariani Review/Giveaway

Prim and proper Evangeline accepts her father’s issue with little more than mild alarm.  Knowing herself plain of face and sharp of tongue, she believes herself capable of warding off any perspective suitor.  Her plan goes awry when the scandalous seducer, Mr. Thomas Masterson, visits her family’s home, for Thomas has learned that he must procure a wife to receive his full inheritance. 

Review:

I’m on a historical kick right now with my reading.  I shied away from them for awhile because they tended to read the same way.  Rogue/rake, virginal heroine/mouse of a woman, marriage of convenience/arranged, evil characters trying to break them up, and then of course, my favorite…hero ignores the heroine.  Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  Boring.  Well in the last two days, I’ve read some of the best historicals written in a long time.

Evangeline is a strong willed and sometimes too smart for her own good heroine.  She doesn’t want to marry.  When her father hears about this, he decides to take the matter in his own hands.  He decides that she must marry by spring or he will choose someone for her.  Paying no attention to the edict set by her father, she is meets Thomas.  A notorious seducer. 

Thomas hears of her plight and when he proposes an arrangement to help each other out, he was not prepared to actually fall for Evangeline.  Thomas is not your typical historical hero.  He admits to his rakish ways, his ability to do nothing but play around.  I liked him from the start and by the end of the book, he stole my heart.

The dialogue between Evangeline and Thomas was witty and intelligent.  While their personalities were different, they complimented each other.  The needed each other.  The characterizations of the secondary characters were great.  Not overpowering and they kept the pace going.  While there is no “true” villain in the story, one of the secondary characters kept popping up and I wanted to smack them upside their heads.

Keeping in tradition of “mainstream” historicals, the bedroom scenes were passionate, sweet and emotional.  I truly adored the building of their relationship and kept turning the pages for more.  It never felt rushed and was sweet.  I highly recommend A Practical Arrangement for the dialogue, sweetness of their relationship and the overall crispness of the story.

Nadja resides in Northeastern Pennsylvania, ever embracing new adventures with her husband, three sons and faithful German Shepherd.  She also boasts two grown daughters, who have flown the nest to pursue their own adventures.

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

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